Chatham-Kent Council held a long virtual session Monday night to go over several topics but most centered around the reopening of the municipality in phase 3.
The Quick jump to phase 3 caught many off guard as they were expected to keep many of these services closed through the summer.
One major issue was the opening of an arena, something most people want to see.
Jeff Bray, the Manager of Parks and Open Spaces for the municipality says they will speak with groups and gauge interest and also do away with the penalty for late cancellation.
Wallaceburg Councilor Aaron Hall said Wallaceburg Minor Hockey is not allowed to accept any money from anyone under the guidelines of the OMHA.
He added registration is down so they don’t know how much ice time they will need.
Hall was happy to hear “the engagement with groups will take place once they move towards the fall”.
He also pointed out another concern from Wallaceburg Minor Hockey, “ Is Chatham-Kent willing to have extra staff on hand to make sure the cleaning will take place in a timely manner, and they hope volunteers would not be expected to help with that.”.
Bray says “We’ve already started working on our COVID-19 Protocols, and staff will be on hand to assist with cleaning and monitoring usage throughout this period. “
In the end they decided to open an unspecified arena in mid august and not necessarily the Blenheim arena.
They also agreed to have curbside pickup in place for the Dresden and Blenheim Libraries by august 4th.